[sharonpdx]

{punk rock meets punky brewster}

Surfing the web on Saturday morning, I came across this ad online.  What the heck is a Punk Rock Craft Fair?  I had to know.

and... what does one wear to a Punk Rock Craft Fair?, I wondered.  Erica lent me some tops from her high school goth days, but in the end I settled on looking like myself...  though I did swap the pink tee for a black one.  On my way out the door, my dad reminded me that I'm a lot more Punky Brewster than I am punk rock.  True.  But as it turns out, so was the Punk Rock Craft Fair...

An eclectic homage to all things Etsy (which, I learned, essentially means all things handmade), the Punk Rock Craft Fair was presented by the San Diego Craft Mafia and the Bad Girls of Craft.  I arrived just as by dominatrix/comedienne Widow Centauri  was taking the stage and meandered outside to find booths with some super talented and super original crafters.   Check out these buttons!  My absolute fave is crafty whore - how frickin' awesome is that?  Totally made my day.  Here's the artist, Kim Tyler from In Craft We Trust - along with the buttons,  magnets, tees and bags, she makes CD sleeves out of scrapbook paper - and we laughed after I revealed I'm a scrapper and started naming the papers she used - the manufacturer, the name of the line and the date of release!  Turns out, I've got something to bring to the punk rock craft party after all.

 

The biggest surprise of Saturday was falling in love with an item from - of all places - Belle Pepper Couture.  Dog jewelry?  But Sharon, you don't have a dog!  Nope - but I've got a wrist, and when Svea showed me this collar she was working on, I had to have it so badly that I bought her prototype!  Just love the juxtaposition (that's for you, Jess...) of the feminine fabric with the edgy studs...  totally slick, so so cool. 

 

Here's Svea of Belle Pepper Couture and her dog, Pepper (Belle couldn't make it).   

Other vendors I loved: p*starr {Suz: check out their guitar straps!), Made By Tess {awesome bags - even ones just for knitters!}, Jumble Bugs {love that punk bug!}, Asta * Arts {their slogan: naughty girls need stamps too!}, Sappy Moose Tree, Porkchop, UnOrdinary and boy girl party. 

Enjoyed the event so much I went back the next day with Erica - she picked up a spiky bracelet of her own, and also fell in love with some vegetarian-themed buttons from the Animal Protection and Rescue League .  Meanwhile, I snatched up some peppalyptus soap at bubbly creations - the soaps smell so good!  And you gotta love a bumper sticker that says [Feeling Dirty? bubbly-creations.com] - snagged one of those, too.  Erica told her I'd put it on my suitcase... love that, totally going to do it, Gina.

Oh, and did you know punk rockers wresle?  Flogging Molly plays in the background when they do... and they have names like Jalapeno, and The Pirate... all in all, it's super fun to watch:

{and from that day on, punky brewster was forever addressed as crafty whore.}

lesson #327: go for thai

Erica called me yesterday while I was at work - seems she was making some "really spicy Thai food" - did I want any?   Well, I'm not really a fan of spicy - so, I told her not to worry about me, I'd just make myself something to eat when I got home. 

When I got home, I wandered into the kitchen, thinking I'd make some orecchiette with mixed greens  - before heading upstairs to work on my layout.  Instead, Erica had brought home a quiche for my dad (who is also not a fan of spicy foods), so I decided to take the easy way out and snag some of that for myself.  It was the wrong move - for two reasons.  First: I burnt my finger trying to pull the quiche out of the oven.  (I know, I know, I'm impossible - this is the girl who cut her frickin' thumb off using the pampered chef slicer and had to go to the emergency room. I get it, I'm dangerous in the kitchen.) 

Second:  Erica makes some damn good Thai food.  It just looked too good to pass up, so I sampled some off her plate - and it rocked!  Sooooo good, just a tad spicy - incredible flavor. 

Life Lesson #327 learned.  When Erica calls and says she's cooking Thai food, do you want any?, the answer is always yes. 

________

in other news... my friend Carolyn finally went for it!  She's been wanting to set up a blog to showcase and develop her photography for a few months now.   We pulled the title, {an instant out of time}, from this quote:  Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still (Dorothea Lange).  What a rockin' quote!  The blog is still in the development stage, but look for more to come soon.   

{dare 37: done!}

these effers rock.

for those not in the know,  the effers are a group of amazing "mad scrapper chicks" (I swear that's self-described...) who post a weekly dare - a challenge to other scrappers to go past the birthday parties and "oh how cute is ____" layouts and really get, well: real.

love it.

until now, I've just watched from afar, but this weekend I finally put the paste to the paper and started working on a concept.  this week's dare challenged us to do some positive self talk - basically, what's fabulous about you?  And I started thinking about labels.  How I hate labels and yet simulateously crave them and rely on them because without them, how do I know who I am?  How Adele has been influencing me (though perhaps she barely realizes how much) to reject the labels and just be.

I thought about those labels that get applied to women with that certain undertone.  You know the one: the "good girls aren't called that" vibe that reverberates so loudly you almost can't hear anything else.  So, I wrote down a whole bunch of labels that have been used to describe me, or that I suspect have been used to describe me, or that I've used to describe myself.  I took off some of the uglier ones (I'm only half kidding) and then narrowed it down to a single list - and then I took those labels and turned them on their asses.  So I rush in kind of quickly?  That means I'm brave.   You think I'm type A?  I'm type B, C, D and types your mother didn't tell you about, friend.  And I might be a bad driver (G, that one's for you) - ok wait, that one's true, I am a bad driver.  And yes, I have a flair for the dramatic and {gasp!}, I may even be a complete and total perfectionist who drives you out of your mind - but I get the damn job done, don't I?

Loved this.  Did I mention that? 

The effers rock.  The dare rocked.  And doing this layout totally rocked. Have missed you, my friends adhesive and ribbon and paper and pen.  Good to be back.   

  rewriting the script {i am}  - click on the image for a larger view

            

(total side note - ok, so that paper ribbon with the Warhol quote?  picked that up at the gift shop of the Corcoran Gallery in DC last December, they had an awesome Warhol exhibit, fascinating...  anyway, I finally, finally, finally used it!   love that.)           

And... today is July 25th!  So:  a super happy birthday wish to my dear friend MaryFrances - love you, MF!   I sincerely hope there were cosmos involved! 

this is why...

... i should not have a TV in my bedroom.

Attempted to go to bed early last night - was totally wiped out, too tired even to work on my layout for dare 37 .  And then I stumbled on last week's episode of Last Comic Standing on Bravo.  Chris Porter was on - seriously, I love Josh Blue, really I do, but Chris is by far my favorite.  I spent half the time he was performing bummed - despite my laughter - because I knew he'd be off the stage soon and I just wanted to hear more!  Fortunately, Josh was up next - the man is way too funny.  All told, I didn't press the power button on the remote until 10:45.  Sigh.  Maybe tonight I'll get to bed early. 

{omg} why did no one tell me?

Dave Navarro is {gasp!} single?!

I haven't bought a gossip mag in weeks - and apparently I'm completely out of touch!  Was flipping through US Weekly in the staff lounge this afternoon - was I the only one who didn't know?  I literally gasped out loud when I read it - the teachers eating lunch in the lounge got a good laugh at my expense - but seriously, I watched their "Til Death Do Us Part" MTV show and loved it - even their engagement pics set in the morgue! - and I didn't expect a split...  but, moments later, it dawned on me:

That means Dave Navarro is single!

Which, I realize, is totally meaningless, even though I happen to also be, coincidentally, single myself.

But, I still have to say:

Yum.

the first thing that comes to mind

life has been - well, life.  and so I've been MIA, it seems.   so, here's some fun for you - thanks to JulieAnn for posting it.  Just write the first thing that comes to mind for each:

I WANT: more sleep. I HAVE: amazing people surrounding me - so much love. I WISH: I could blink and know exactly what is coming up for me next. I HATE: this question. I MISS: my friends in Colorado. I HEAR: the sounds of children playing on the playground outside my office window I WONDER: what it will be like living on my own in Portland. I REGRET: nothing. I AM NOT: broken. I DANCE: whenever the hell I feel like it and every chance I get. I SING: in the car - and at karaoke night. I CRY: more than I want to... and every time I see that Applebee's commercial... I AM NOT ALWAYS: what people think. I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: meals for those I love. I WRITE: all the time. everything that's in my head. I CONFUSE: everyone else. I NEED: to practice self control. I SHOULD: drink less coffee. I START: whenever it feels right. I FINISH: on time. just barely.

{independence day}

Today, 50 states celebrate the victory of the first 13. 

...

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776, THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

WHEN, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness...

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connexion between them and the State of Great-Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of Right do. And for the Support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour.

...

[Today] will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

John Adams (1735-1826)  Second U.S. President - letter to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776

...

Happy Independence Day.

God Bless the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, both here and away from home, fighting to protect and defend these Free and Independent States.  I am so grateful.

Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make good use of it!  - John Adams - letter to Abigail Adams, April 26, 1777

To my American readers: I hope you enjoyed the pomp and circumstance with which you marked this day.

...

And, not to be forgotten... To Larry Reynolds: Happy Birthday.  Thinking of you today.